go crazy with the higher increases. but in place where is health insurance premiums are skyrocketing, customers risk putting more strain on the system. >> if they can't afford the premiums, they are not going on get coverage or end up at the state exchange in a year, getting coverage federally subsidized. nothing will keem keep the premiums down. premiums are determined on a state by state level. >> consumers in more than a dozen states might be pay the a lot more for insurance insurance. >> there has been no nomination, but lawmakers are lining up for and against former senator chuck hagel, the frontrunner for secretary for defense. an announcement could come as soon as tomorrow. both democrats and republicans have questioned his record and signaled a bruising confirmation battle could be ahead.

the top republican, mitch mcconnell says he is taking a wait-and-see approach on the possible nomination. richard shelby from alabama is here. you served with chuck hagel. what are your thoughts about him as a potential secretary of defense? >> i have known him a long time, he has had a great experience. the system will have to play out. if he is nominated, he will go before the armed services committee and let's see what happens. he is experienced. he is a combat veteran. he has been around. he does bring more than a little dust up with him. let it play out. let's see what happens. >> the dustup, does that concern you? he has made what some have interpreted to be anti-semetic, or anti-israeli comments? >> i think it concerns, not just me, but a lot of people. he would be secretary of defense. if he were nominated and if we were confirmed, that's a very, very important job, a very

sensitive job, a very powerful job. all of this, if he is nominated will have to play out in his confirmation hearings and perhaps later on the floor of the senate in a debate. i can't predict if he will be nominated or confirmed. but give him every consideration, but keep your powder dry. >> not only has he come under consternation because of remarks, referring to the israel lobby, he has come under fire from the left, or some -- anti-gay comments, perceived that way by a lot of people. does that make a potential confirmation battle even more difficult for him. >> you are killed by a thousand cuts, politically, or businesswise. obviously, you pointed out two or three cuts, if there will be more, it will be difficult. it will be a difficult nomination to be confirmed. but we will have to wait and see. i can't predict, as i said.

but obviously, it will be probably some people say, tough going. >> he has a reputation, correct me if i am wrong, as an iconoclast. some have said the controversial comments may be him pushing the envelope of outside-the-box thinking. is that a rationalization for the comments he has made? >> probably so. you have to remember he is a combat veteran. he was in the reagan cabinet. he was a deputy secretary of veterans afairks i believe. he -- affairs, i believe. he has been a two-term senator. served on the intelligence committee with me. he served on the banking committee. he has been around. he understands the system. will his nomination play? we don't know until it's up and vetted and debated. >> okay. am i hearing a yes vote forever chuck hagel? >> i am saying, let's wait and

see. >> okay. let's shift gears here. you are one of eight senators to vote against the fiscal cliff deal. now we are preparing for the debt ceiling. do you expect the same contentiousness and loggerheads? >> i think it will be contentious. it should be. we continue to borrow and spend. we don't cut. we are headed down the road to financial destruction, as everybody knows. we do need to pay our debts, but we don't need to keep incurring that debt. that's the argument we should make. we have to come to financial sanity and we are not there yet. i believe at theep of the day, if the president will get involved -- if he will get involved, we could do some good things, but we have to cut spending, we have some type of a grand bargain? i don't know. but we are in better shape than we were on the tax stuff. >> you said you would like to

see the president get involved. let's listen to your boss talk about that? >> the single biggest threat to america's future and that's our excessive spending. i would like for the president to lead. it is a shame that we have to drag him to the table. >> and also, the president recently remarked that he does not want to get into a fight over the debt ceiling. let's listen up to that. >> i will negotiate over many things. >> i will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they have already racked up through the laws that they passed. >> as much as people have expected a desire to come together, i have seen polar opposite statements. >> i think you are going to have a healthy debate. i think the president, whether he wants to be involved, he should be involved. and i think for the administration's sake, he should be involved and will be involved. but this is debatable.

this is a big thing. are we going to continue to spend, spend, spend? and borrow, borrow, borrow? that's what the debate's going to be about. what leverage does the republican party have? you control one house of one branch of government in there is only a limited number of things we can do. >> in the senate, we can debate. we do have 45 senators. if we stay together for the right reason and that is to say, look, this is the time we have to say no unless we can get some cuts. the president could have come to the table before. he didn't. the question is, will he now? i believe he will have to. >> that raises the question of the so-called nuclear option that some have suggested that the majority leader might exercise. are you fearful of that? that would limit your ability to debate to a large degree. >> it is a concern. that has been a concern. it would change the senate rules and make it more like the house.

i hope that harry reid, the majority leader will not push that. i know he's been in negotiations with mitch mcconnell and other leaders to try to thwart that and try to come up with a workable reform, short of that. if he does that, you still have the house. >> senator richard shelby, thank you. good to see you, sir. >> gun shows are coming under new scrutiny after the shooting in newtown, water wawkt wawkt. waterbury, the local police chief has decided to stop issuing gun show permits until further notice. he says he didn't want any future guns to be traced back to gun shows in waterbury. meanwhile, in nashville, north carolina, members of the city council are trying to ban gun shows at city-owned sites. we go live. there is a gun show this weekend. hi, elizabeth. >> a very popular gun show. but just like you said, there is a debate brewing across the

nation on whether or not the gun shows should be banned. we are seeing the gun shows in new york and connecticut cancelled here. but here in asheville, north carolina, you can see the gun show continues. but local government officials are figuring out way to ban these shows. they are trying to do it legally. this local councilman wants them banned from all city properties. >> i believe that gun shows are not contributing. so i would like not like to see the city be supporting them in any fashion. >> reporter: the issue is whether or not this center is owned by the city or the state. the state says they own it. the city claims they do. it's something that a judge will have to decide if the future. but meanwhile, gun dealers and attendees say they not only have the right to hold these gun shows, there is a north carolina statute protecting these events and they argue they are being discriminated against after the devastating shooting in newtown.

>> it's a tragedy in connecticut, i am praying for the families. but the kids stole the guns and brought them into a elementary school. that was a violation of federal law. he broke into the school and killed people. those things are already illegal. >> gun dealers tell us, all the transactions are legal, there are background chegs and nothing illegal is happening here. back to you. >> thank you. appreciate that. >> the white house is said to be weighing a broader approach than just reinstating a ban on assault weapons. vice-president joe biden is coming up with a plan, recommendations from his task force are not expected until the end of the month. this month, lawmakers are zeroing in on the debate on the sunday talk shows. joining us is the president of strategies and steve hayes are, for a fair and balanced debate.

john rockerts pointed out, there are no fewer than 10 bills under consideration in the house of representatives right now to oppose some sort of new gun control from limiting the size of clips to resurrecting the assault ban. a working group led by vice-president biden is proposing these. let's look at what the washington post rer reports, a working group led by vice-president biden is considering measures that would require universal background checks for firearms buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks and stricter penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors. would that help? >> some of them will. i think some of them won't. i think the fact of the matter is -- let me state clearly where i am coming from, someone who lived in a home with a man who should not have guns and lived through the incident of someone

trying to kill somebody and married to a former nra board member. so vicome to this from both sides -- >> two different men, i assume? >> two different men. i have been involved in trying to change things on guns for a long time and probably have become more educated and balanced in understanding how many people feel about the right to bear arms in this country and believe it is as core to them as freedom of speech or freedom of religion. i think the laws that are on the books now would not have kept someone like my father from having a gun. we have real issues on mental health that have to be addressed. we are not seeing money put into programs on the books. but i don't understand why anybody needs an assault weapon in this country. i hope that everybody will come to a table. otherwise people are going to go to their corners and fight not seeing what we need to see get done. >> when you see a movement to

restrict gun ownership rights, the inevitable outcome is gun sales, magazine sales, ammo sales guthrough the roof. it is the polar opposite intention of what people on debbie's side. argument want to see. >> we saw this before president obam was elected, when hadt looked like he was going to be elected in 2008 and the time period between the inauguration, you see the big jump in gun sales. there has been some degree of... too much concern on the part of gun owners and people said, the president's going to take away all of our guns. i don't think that was likely to happen. i still don't think it's likely to happen. but when you read the washington post piece and the ways in which the president has been a maximalist president, he has goneaz as far as he can go, as far as politics will let him go. i do think gun owners are right

to be very concerned about where this is going and how far these steps that the president wants to take will end up going. >> a brilliant psychologist at george mason university, jeff pollard sent me an email saying -- you remember, the whole going postal issue, where we had a spate of hostal workers shooting each and other that died off. he posted me this question, do you know why? the postal service has adopted threat assessment, in the same way that the secret service has adopted threat assessment, in looking at people who may be interested in assassinating a president of the united states. why can't you attach gun issues, psychological issue, behavioral issues and all of these factors? >> we need to look at all the facers. there are guns in the hands of people who should not have them. we need to teach law enforcement

officials how to better deal with them. woo need to empower principals and teachers and employers. but we also have to -- a lot of tough issues. this isn't easy. this is privacy versus individual rights. but we have tough balances. we need to get at root causes and all the laws in the world won't stop sth this if we don't address the root causes. >> steve? >> i think that's where we are likely to go. i think it will be very difficult for the president to do the kinds of things that were laid out in this washington post peal piece that caused such a stir this morning, to be as far reaching because testify politics of this. any time you are talking about a fundamental right. but you are talking about the bill of rights and the second amendment to the constitution. you will have people get their back up when you talk about potentially restricting them. >> let's change the topic, 113th congress, a big fight over the debt ceiling, looking at a big fight over other issues

as well. you expect to see this knocking of heads in the same way we saw in the last ck, the intransigence? >> yes. absolutely. it's been interesting to watch. since the end of the fiscal cliff to watch the conventional you wisdom in washington look at what is likely to come. i think the conventional wisdom is wropg. i think that people think the republicans have learned their lesson and they are not likely to be as aggressive. they learned in the july 2011 debt ceiling fight. they are likely to be more restrained. i think the republicans now feel as though the president isn't serious about debt and deficit. he won't be serious about the debt and sev sit. they have a couple of shots here, quickly before we run into a debt crisis. they are going to take their shots and be aggressive. you are hearing from the people on capitol hill, counseling caution the last time we had a debt ceiling debate who are not. they are saying, this is the time to make a strong argument

to be aggressive. >> the do-nothing congress or not? >> i cannot believe this will be a do-nothing congress because the country can't afford. it i agree with steve that i think we are going to see a replay of what happened over the holiday -- i call it a new definition of march madness, heading into march. i do believe that leaders -- i have talked to leaders in all parties. they are -- they are very concerned about this breakdown. but quite frankly, people in both parties really want to take a stand. i think the country needs to say to their legislators, we have to cut the deficit, get in a room. i think the democrats and republicans alike agree we have to reduce the budget, but the republicans wouldn't do a farm bill to eliminate farm subsidy programs. >> thank you both for coming in. good to see you. >> with smart phone apps like

facebook and instragram, khalid al-sayah users are sharing a lot more than they realize and could be sackifiesing their safety. we'll talk to our science editor. and then lawmakers but theed heads on the debt ceiling and the gun control debate. we'll get a preview, after the break. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. with three of your daily vegetable servings excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill.

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>> we have just learned that moments ago, president obama signed into law the first of the sandy relief bills, to provide $9.7 billion in flood insurance funds to victims of super storm sandy. congress passed the bill on friday. the house has to vote on two other measures to provide $60 billion in aid.

>> the second amendment -- it's about freedom. the first amendment's about freedom. the fourth amendment's about freedom i. have you bone the law and committed a violent act, should you be able to buy a semi-automatic handweapon. >> you shouldn't have a conceal and carry. >> if this is any indication of what lies ahead, it's going to be a problem. >> just a little taste of the spirited example we saw on fox news sunday. yeah, it really was. if you look at the guests, this morning, and the way they were going at each other over the debt ceiling debate and over spending versus raising revenue, it gives you a real indication of how the debate's going to go the next six to eight weeks. they both had strident positions and none seemed to want to budge. you talk to senator ted cruz who thinks there is too much compromise in washington. if neither side is willing to

compromise, what gets done as we get closer and closer to the debt ceiling? america eeferght won't meet its obligations or go to default t. creates uncertainty with business and that comes down to, why aren't they hiring people? >> you mayed sound, higher up the leadership chain, president obama and mitch mcconnell, both staking out positions to seem to indicate we have more intransigence down the road. >> the president is saying, if you are tying spending cuts to the debt ceiling, that's a discussion i am not going to have. mitch mcconnell is saying, with all due respect, you are going to have that debate because it's a debate that the country needs to have. mitch mcconnell threw down a marker saying the revenue piece is done. no new tax increases. all we are talking about is spending cuts. the president is looking for $600 billion in revenue, closing loopholes and limiting

deductions on the richest americans. you can see, they are about to go like this and what are the consequences? >> the fiscalg issues may be sidetracked by the gun control debate. 10 bills were introduced in the house on thursday, none of which on the surface would have done anything to stop adam lanza from doing what he did in newtown. and then there is the white house study group led by vice-president biden, which looks like it's going to go for more legislation, reduce the assault weapons. but at the same time, look also at the issues of mental health and the societal impacts of violent video games and movies. charles krauthammer said recently, if you look at newtown, it's multi-factorial. so at least the white house will look at the other sides, too. >> "fox news sunday" coming up at 2:00 p.m. right here on the fox newschannel. >> again, you can catch the

entire interview and the one on one with senator ted cruz, right here on the fox newschannel, after america's news headquarters. republicans were divided on the controversial fiscal cliff deal. with the next debt debate, will it bring them together or split the party, our congressional panel gives us an inside look? syrian president assad makes his first public appearance in months. details on his defiant speech coming up next. it did house rule number 53. big time taste should fit in a little time cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day afr day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] e pill eachmorning. 24 hours. zero heartbur

>> president obama's gun control plan appears to be taking shape now. peter doocy standing by with some of the top stories. >> a senior administration official says the white house is taking a broad approach with gun laws being only part of the issue. the washington post reports a working group is considering universal bangground checks for buyers and tracking the sale and movement of weapons. new jersey governor chris christie says there are more important things than playing politics. he came under g.o.p. fire for praising president obama after hurricane sandy and slamming house speaker john boehner's handling of a sandy aid vote. but christie says, what he did was just part of the job. a spokesman for royal dutch shell says the company will try to drag its drill ship off the rocks of a remote alaska island

as soon as it can. the ship is sound, but weather, tides and readiness will determine when they will try to tow t. it ran aground new year's eve after breaking away from its tow ship. it looks like all is not lost for hockey fans. but it needs to be ratified. the national hockey league and its players have reached a tentative agreement for a 10-year deal in a 16-hour-long negotiating session. those are the top stories right now. back to you. >> a lot of hockey fans. a lot of restaurateurs here outside the verizon center are looking for that, probably in nhl cities across america. they have been hurting. >> it is not just the millionaires-- the players and the coach who is stand to benefit from this. it's about the ticket takers, the concession stands and everything. >> thank you. >> syrian president assad is refusing to step down and blaming western aggression for the violent uprising in his

country. he had his first public appearance in months. >> reporter: doug, we haven't seen him in a while. but the message hasn't changed. the same old same old -- i'm not leaving, i am not negotiating, i am not giving up. it's the terrorists, according to him, causing the publish -- the problems inside. he did offer a peace plan, saying i am happy to negotiate, to give the russians to something to tell everyone. the u.s. political term would be optic. that's the most important thing to pay attention to. this is a president involved in a civil war for 21 months, he looks rested and thinner than in the past. he is speaking to an adoring crowd, live on state tv. the fact that all of these people would come out in the middle of the day for this speech shows this is a man in control in some parts of his capitol. and it shows that he has a lot of loyalists to the regime who

want him to continue to push forward on this civil war. he blamed al qaeda and a number of other terrorist organizations and foreign fighters behind the insurgency. and the video out of syria does point to an increasing number of islamic jihaddist taking part in the fight, not necessarily interested in a free syria but perhaps an islamic state. the rebels called the speech a nonstarter and said it was an insult and he has no interest in negotiating and they are willing to fight until president assad is out of office. only then will they talk about putting down their weapons. the take-away, this is a man who is not willing to negotiate. he has had the proverbial nine livesav a cat in civil war. 36 hours is what the state department gave him nine months ago. they said damascus would fall in nine months, so far, far, he is

still around. >> indeed, he is. at least nine people suspected to be taliban fighters are dead after a suspectedu drone strike in pakistan's tribal areas. the target, three taliban compounds. it is believed two major commanders are among the dead, in the unsupervised bomb squads. that's the third u.s. drone strike in five days itch there was a sharp divide in congress between those who voted for the fiscal cliff bill and those who did not -- taxes versus spending. but will those differences come up again in the debt ceiling debate? we have jeff duncan, a republican from south carolina, and representative elliot engle, a democrat from new york. gentlemen, thank you for joining us. representative duncan, you voted against the fiscal cliff deal. tell us why? >> absolutely. we are not in this situation in america with our economy and our government because we have under-taxed americans.

we are here because we spend too much money. this plan had over $40 of tax revenue increases for every dollar that was cult. it should be $44 for cuts fur every dollar increased. >> you voted for the deal, wiam sure, reservations, as many have excess expressed? >> you either accept the deal or go over the fiscal cliff. and going over the fiscal cliff is not something this country needs. the repercussions would have been horr endous and the stock market would be plummeted. we were caught between a scprok a hard place. so i voted for t. now we have two more months until we get to the same type of fiscal cliff again. the grand plan so we wouldn't have the two-month intervals and we could have a couple of years where the country knows where it's going and we rye try to put

together fiscal responsibility. by the way, the only way we are going to dig out of it is by spending less, absolutely. also, we are going to have to raise revenue, whether we like it or not. we have boxed ourselves into a corner. we have to have a grand plan to get out of t. something like simpson-bowles, maybe want exactly. all sides are going to have to swallow hard. a compromise is a compromise. you don't get everything you want. but the american people, i believe are sick and tired of congressional impotence, where you inch along and then you go to the 11th hour and suddenly, something happens, that's not a way to govern. >> congressman engle aircraft lot of people on both sides of the aisle are expressing optimism about this because they say it limits taxes. but i was looking at the web site, twitchy, which compiles tweets on various subjects. listen to this array of tweets, indicating that the voters were

surprised by the tax increases inherent in this fiscal cliff deal that passed... >> how you can explain that? >> the payroll tax, which had been eliminated for two years, was put back n. we can't have it both ways. the payroll tax pays for social security. if we want social security, we have to have a payroll tax. if we don't want to have a payroll tax, social security is going to become insolvent. it's a matter of we can't have everything we want. we can't pay no taxes, have social programs and expect a handout. if you want something, you need to pay for it.

so what happened, the payroll tax was eliminated, first for a year, then for another year. when the economy was doing poorly. now it seems like we are heading in the right direction and it went back to the way it was. >> congressman duncan, you want to chime in? >> absolutely. we are in this situation because of spending. just giving the government more revenue isn't going to solve the problem. we need to have a real debate about the level of spenning and the addiction that we have. if you think the fiscal cliff was tough, wait until you get to the debt depression that's coming, assuming we raise the debt ceiling in 2 months. we have to have a true debate, in the house and the senate. we can't let the senate go through this process without a debate before the american people about the real issues, that's the drive about the deficit and the debt. that turnover concerns me and a lot of constituents. >> americans are hoping that the interest rates stay low because

our problems will be vastly exacerbated if they don't. appreciate you both appearing today. >> thank you. >> are we sharing a little too much? the pictures you take with your smart phones tell more than a thousand words. it can tell your location and anybody else your location, the exact address where the picture's taken. you can't afford to miss this, coming up. i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th, five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story.

>> a 1981 photo of princess diana marked not to be published will go off to auction. it was taken at the time her engagement was announced. this is from adam russell, the great grandson of stanley baldwin. it came from a private collection of rare photos, purchased from the daily mirror, several years ago. >> a big win for google. the federal trade commission says google has not vilianted anti-trust statutes in the way it ramps web searches. with the locationidate athe new web page designed by students at rutgers university, called the beat. it takes instagram photos and takes google street view to pinpoint the location of your pictures at the time they were taken.

joining us is jeremy cap. jeremy, the capability of this thing was describe -- described by gizzmoto as a stalker's wet dream. do you concur. >>? >> if this is not a call for action, this is a call for alarm. we have been warning people for ages. you have to be more aware of the information we are sharing. we don't have a fiscal cliff or term to make people aware of this. this is very disturbing. what you said is exactly right. it takes pictures posted to instagram, which everyone is using, this photo-sharing webbate and it marries them, it takes the information about where the picture was taken and marry its with the google street maps view of the location. this is fine on vacation. if you are in the bahamas, i am taking a picture at dinner in the bahamas and here's the exact

location. but if you are taking a picture of the new big screen television you just purchased, here's my new big screen tv and here's the street map of my house. from that context, this is a very scary thing -- >> or, jeremy, if you are on vacation in the bahamas and you should shown a picture of your big screen tv, some thief would know you were not at home and knew where your house was. >> precisely, we need to take a few steps back. i use all of these sites myself. i like them. but we need to be cognizant of the information we are posting and how the different places that have the information on us can be smushed together and aggregated and paint a very deep, large, wide picture of wowe are on the web. >> you know, jeremy, we have some time where we have cameras watching us on the street, our smart phones are a tracking device, feme people can follow us, anything have you ever written in an email can be blown

up for a jury or a judge to see. where does it end? >> that's exactly the right question to be asking. we need to stop and think about how much we are sharing here. you are talking about tweets. the library of congress is aggregating tweets. they have 20 billion. they are permanently stored so something you wrote casually -- boom, that's connected to your profile. all of that could be smushed together. >> science and technology editor here foxnews.com. still to come on america's news headquarters... >> uncertain future. ney new details emerge about how many american troops will remain in afghanistan after the bulk of forces leave plus, now a major medical journalist jowsm jumping into the gun debate,urning

doctors to discuss gun state --n safety with patients. as the debt ceiling debate heats up, our strongest ally in the middle-east is keeping watch. what could a breakdown mean for israel? we have more on that live at the top of the hour.

>> a centennial celebration at the library for one of america's most controversial presidents. richard nixon was born 100 years ago this week. the year-long commemoration begins today. we go to the nixon library, in the president's hometown of yorbalin linda, california. >> reporter: hey, there. january 19, 1913, when richard nixon was born, the second son

of five boys. you can see his birth place, right behind me. here today, we are comeuppancing to a ceremony where they gather many of the people he worked with and many of the politicians remember his time. the marines are preparing to rehearse a gun salawsuit lute and there will be a flyover to commemorate the centennial anniversary. you can see the bands getting ready to rehearse. 200 people will remember his life's achievements. among them, his colleagues who feel that although he resigned from the presidency if in the watergate scandal, they believe he needs to be seen in a far-reaching context. >> chineav 1971-72 is like north korea of today. people can't get their arms around that. i think that is one thing that is very important for us who worked in that administration,

for people to understand the sheer magnitude of what he did. >> reporter: later this week, there will be a special dinner in washington, d.c., where henry kissinger, his secretary of state, will give a keyneat note speech. nixon coaxed china out of the cold and very much helped it to become the world power it is today. and of course, he brought troops out of vietnam, which echoed many of the geopolitical events we are seeing today with troops leaving afscpaf many parallels with his legacy and the actions of then will be drawn with what is taking place today and how the world stands as a result of his leadership and many of his policies. back to you. >> so true. passage of time has a way of changing perspectives. thank you. a strike barely averted at least for now. but is the dispute with the long shoremen an example of the clout thalt labor unions will hold in a second term? we will look into that.

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shipping in the gulf and the northeast theory ground to a standstill with a possible dock workers strike. one example of how even though union influence may be shrinking its power is still significant. a 30 day contract agreement agreed to last friday avoids a

shut down of ports from massachusetts to texas but 14,000 longshoremen find their jobs threatened by automating. today it tooks one to do the work of three a generation ago. >> we have seen it in several of the heavy industries where efficiency and new productivity machines have come into play and people get displaced by that. it has been a difficult thing with you but you one of the things to maintain the cost and competitiveness in a global marketplace we have to pay attention to. >> union membership declined to 11.8% of the work force president obama finds himself behold ton unions. they contributed h her verily in manpower and money in the reelection. he has made a point of supporting them. >> you only have to work to michigan where workers were instrumental in reviving the aah auto industry. >> michigan a union stronghold became the 24th state to pass

a right to work law. hampered in the states by right to work momentum and in washington by a divided congress and abroad by low cost competition the options to reward union are limit. >> there are things that the president can do and we will be expecting that leadership from president obama. >> one option, executive orders and federal regulations. more than 5700 new ones posted in the last 90 days alone. there is another option. >> the way to do it from the union's perspective is to raise the workers' pay around the world. >> and the u.s. unions are trying to do just that, laying the ground work to protect workers from "detroit to juarez and shanghai to bogota. getting the corporations to agree is another mat. the biggest problem confronting the country is excessive spending. >> we forego $1.2 trillion a

year in the tax code. money that otherwise would go to the the government. >> the tug of the war over the nation's economy continues. a crucial and contentious debt ceiling debate. i'm doug mcelway in for shannon bream. america's news headquarters live from the nation's capital starts root now. lawmakers already rolling up their sleeves for the next round of fiscal fights. two weeks before he begins his second term president obama may be unvealing his new strategy for dealing with congress. molly henneberg with details now. >> president obama is drawing public lines in the sand over fiscal fights to come, likely trying to win over american support with more public campaign style tactics. for example, looming ahead is the battle over the debt ceiling. essentially the nation's credit

card limit to pay for all of the government spending. we hit that $16.4 trillion limit last week and the president here you see him arriving back in washington from his vacation in hawaii, is telling congress to raise the debt ceiling without a fight. >> while i will neglect shale over many things, i will not have another are debate with this congress over are whether or not they should pay the bills that they have already racked up through the laws that they passed. >> that is already stirring up lawmakers with democrats backing the president and saying there is no need to discuss raising the debt limit and republicans saying the country needs to rein in its spending, not continue to raise the debt limit again and again. >> it is no wonder the president doesn't want to debate this. if i haded been the president of the united states and presided over the four highest annual deficits in american history, a $5 trillion increase in the national debt i wouldn't want to talk about the it

either. >> this is about paying bills already due and open owing. like we get up one morning and say we are not going to pay our mortgage. that is reckless and irresponsible. >> congress has two months to fix the debt ceiling problem before the u.s. may have to default on some of its bills. doug? >> molly henneberg, thank you, molly. >> insurance rates are going up for some patients despite president obama's new healthcare law. some health insurers raising premiums by more than 20% and the most vulnerable customers are small businesses and people who have to betheir own health insurance. federal regulators say the premiums would be even higher without the new law. president obama could nominate chuck hagel for defense secretary as soon as tomorrow. if today's talk shows are any indication it is not coming without a fight. tom cotton says hagel's failure to back the iraq war is one of many issues he has with the

possible nomination. >> add that to his dangerous views on terrorism and strange hostility towards israel i think the senate should oppose mr. haig. >> this is, again, the washington you view of things. chuck hagel is a tremendous patriot and statesman, served incredibly in vietnam, sevenned this country as a united states senator. he hasn't had a chance to speak for himself. why all the prejudging i don't snow. >> fox sources say so far the president has not officially offered the job to hagel. >> a leading member of syria's opposition says bashar al-asaad's peace offering is missing something, his resignation. in his first public appearance in months he gave a speech to the nation outlining a settlement of the country's

civil war. intelligence officials say at least nine taliban fighters dead after a suspected u.s. drone strike in pakistan's northern tribal areas. intelligence sources say they don't know the identities of the dead militants for sure but it is believed that two major taliban commanders may be among those killed. it makes that the third suspected u.s. drone strike in five days. just a few days ago, general john allen proposed three scenarios for the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan. the proposals coming just days before hamid karzai is set to meet with president obama at the white house. former chair of the house foreign affairs committee, ileana ros-lehtinen joins us to talk about what to expect from the talks. thanks for joining us. good to see you. >> thanks for the invitation. >> what do you expect to come from the talks? >> i hope not only talk about

how many forces will stay in country but some of the ongoing systemic problems in afghanistan. primarily number one corruption. that has been an ongoing problem with the karzai government from day one and also the iranian influence. karzai could be seen now as a conduit in afghanistan as a financial center for are iran to use afghanistan in order to circumvent financial international sanctions and karzai's attemp attempt to cozo the taliban and his attempt at reconciliation could liberate extremist militants that could pose a dangerous threat to u.s. forces there and our nato allies. so there are many unanswered questions that i hope go far beyond how many troops are there. right now we have about 65,000. will we go to 10, 20? how long will be stay there? what will be the mission and

mostly what we need to make sure is that what afghanistan needs is close air support because ground troops alone is not going to be able to fight against the taliban, al-qaeda, extremists all kinds of phak factions trying to take over the country. we can't his honor the blood and treasure shed in afghanistan up to now by quickly withdrawing and leaving it less safe. >> i want to read to you a report produced by our great pentagon producer justin fishel last friday. he wrote "the white house is not considering any option that would leave more than 10,000 american troops in afghanistan beyond 2014. ". a senior administration official and senior military force told fox news despite reports that the administration could leave a much larger footprint after that deadline for handing over security to the afghans. there you have it. 10,000 s what we are reportedly hearing from the pentagon. >> i worry about the art fix

deadlines and artificial numbers not dictated by the facts on the ground. we have to see as the afghanistan forces are standing up and make sure that they are trained and we cooperate with them with counterinsurgency and the training and advising and continues. to just pull out a date and say this is the number of troops does not respect the realities on the ground. we made that mistake with iraq and i hope that the obama administration learned from its mistakes and when we withdraw forces along with allies we do so in a way that i say treasures all of the lives that have been lost there and that the afghan people have the security that they need because if not we will just be embolden these terrorists and they will not rest. we may beautied of this war but the terrorists -- we may be tired of this war but the terrorists are not. >> let me ask you what

afghanistan is going to look like say after 2014 or 2015 or so. >> it worries me that karzai is our best guy there in afghanistan because he has had a lot of ethical problems. a lot of corruption that he has not been willing to stand up to. we need a in afghanistan that understands the difference between right and wrong and that will really use the country's finances in a way that will stand up the economy so that people can see that there is a future ahead of them that is not involved in killing americans and killing nato forces and apiecing extremist -- appeasing extremist elements. we need a strong leader, one able to stand up to extremists and if karzai is the best we've got that worries a lot of us in washington. >> one more question before we go. karzai is under tremendous pressure not just from the united states but war lords and tribal leaders there many of whom want to prosecute u.s. forces or nato forces for collateral damage or what have

you. just an impossible situation for nato troops there. >> that is one of the key issues that should be discussed not just an arbitrary number of troops and not just an arbitrary date but what will be the limitations of immunity that or o u.s. forces will have in afghanistan. are we putting our guys and gals lives on the line so they could be not only at risk of losing their lives but at the same time be prosecuted for war crimes. so the limitations on persecutions and under what laws will any of the cases be handled. those are sensitive issues that go far beyond an arbitrary number of troops. our guys should have immunity and should be under u.s. laws and not the laws of afghanistan. >> congressman ileana ros-lehtinen thank you very much for your time. good to see you.

>> thank you. israel is looking to build a border fence to keep syria's civil war from spilling over its border. prime minister netanyahu said they need a fortified bare, yes. he is proposing a fence along the border line. israel has largely stayed out o of the syrian conflict although several mortar rounds have landed there. >> with their own country financially tied to the u.s. israeli officials are relieved that congress managed to avoid just barely the fiscal cliff. the finance manager is scheduled to meet with treasury secretary tim geithenr this week. what do you expect to see from the meeting coming with the treasury secretary? >> we were happily and relieved to hear that the fiscal cliff is over because really because there are close economic ties between our two countries and

i'm quite optimistic about the u.s. economic recovery. i think the united states economy has very strong fundamentals. geithner is a friend and i want to thank him for tightening the economic sanctions on iran. we have to look forward to see what else can be done in order really to make it even more effective. it is already quite effective as it is today and also to discuss the future economic cooperation between our two countries. >> does israel face a fiscal cliff of its own? >> we are facing the global crisis as everybody else. so far we did relatively -- we are in relatively good shape, economic hope in israel is quite significant and the level of investment in the economy was going up by almost 40%.

nearly 40% in the last three years which enable us to reduce unemployment and create even more jobs than before. so this is, on the one hand. on the other hand, of course, we are still facing the europe, part of our export is to europe. our export to europe is slowing down and we have to handle the situation. still even if you get some success by handling this global crisis it is still a very great situation and we have to be very careful and very responsible in order to defend the israeli economy. >> but israel in so much better shape than any of the other industrial countries. from 2009 to 2012 israel's economy grew at a rate faster. 14.7% compared to 3.2% to the united states. to what do you attribute that?

>> and negative closing in most western european countries. >> yes. >> we adopted quite a different counter crisis policy. we will try to handle the crisis not by artificially encouraging the economic activity but by creating excellent conditions and give a lot of incentives for new investments. by building the economy into the future and really in 2009 the level of investments went down but sense the beginning of 2010 for three years as i mentioned before investments both from global companies from all around the world, from united states and europe and china was going up by i almost 40%. and thisse enabled us to create many jobs and reduce unemployment dramatically.

but you still we will have to make some budget cuts in 2013 and we have to be very careful. it is very dangerous global crisis to the israeli economy. what we are doing is to promote the status or the image of israel as an important global hub for research and development, for r & d. we see more and more countries not just from america but europe and china despite the global crisis are establishing more and more high tech and r & d facilities in israel which help us to grow the economy and overcome the crisis. also in israel it is tough -- being the finance minister i think every day day. >> israeli finance menster, thank you very much.

good luck with your meeting with the treasury secretary. al-qaeda is putting a bounty on american lives in yemen. catherine herridge has more on the threats. >> in the 8 minute video the al-qaeda affiliate boldly offers gold for the killing of the ambassador in yemen. intelligence and congressional sources tell fox the threats are credible. >> it has been al-qaeda centered in yemen which made the most concerted effort to attack the united states. >> though the u.s. embassy in yemen is one of the most heavily compound overseas it was nearly overrun by demonstrators in september. in a brief statement the state department emphasized the embassy already operates in a highly sensitive and difficult security situation. >> i think our inclination should be to keep people there but we have to be sure that the

government can provide protection and if they fail we can provide protection and i think benghazi should teach us that if nothing else. >> memory a group that monitors islamist messages also notes one version contains this image superimposed over an image of ambassador chris stevens. >> they were able to kill four americans which is tragic and the american response has been so confusing and so inconsist atlanta we have certainly made it appear as a major victory for al-qaeda. >> the number of u.s. drone strikes in yemen in 2012 was nearly identical to pack scan. this is read as more evidence that al-qaeda's followers are making yemen their base of operations. in washington, catherine herridge, fox news. a mass shooting at a colorado movie theater will be in court tomorrow. prosecutors will present their case against james holmes at the preliminary hearing. large amounts of sealed evidence including 911 calls

and videos that were shot inside the theater will be made public we understand for the first time. police say holmes opened fire during a midnight movie killing 12 people and injuring at least 70 others. just four miles away from the theater another gunman opened fire at a town home, killing three people. police identified the victims but not yet revealing their relationship to the shooter. the gunman was killed after a long standoff with police. a showdown between gun rights and gun laws taking place right now at a north carolina gun show. we'll have a live report coming up. and should doctors get involved in the gun debate? our panel weighs in on whether gun safety should be considered a public health issue.

a new front has opened in the gun control debate that started in the wake of the sandy hook school shooting. some towns are are struggling over whether they should allow gun shows. in asheville, north carolina, they are trying to ban all gun shows at city-owned sites. elizabeth is live with more on this that. >> good afternoon. you're right. a topic heating up across the nation but we are starting to see local officials taking matters into their own hands as they try to ban all gun shows but trying to do it legally. we are seeing massive turnouts at gun shows like the one behind me. thousands are coming out in record numbers. in fact, just last month the fbi reported 2.8 million concealed carry permit applications in just december. a 49% increase from december 2011. here in asheville we are certainly seeing evidence of that increase. listen. >> this is the percent show in 20 years that we have done where people are actually weighting in line at 6:30 in

the morning even though we didn't open up until 9:00 and this is just the local population saying that we are not going to have the city push us around and tell us what we can and cannot to with guns. >> one local councilman wants to enforce a ban that says gun shows are not permitted on any city property and the center where we are located reit now is considered a city building. he says that gun shows create loopholes which allow for illegal trade. >> there is a loophole in gun shows where private owners can sell and trade guns back and forth without background checks. >> the promoter of the event says all guns that are sold are sold legally and there is background checks as if it were being sold in a store. doug, back to you. >> thank you very much. according to the centers for disease control close to 30,000 people die every year from gun-related injuries. some say it is time for doctors

to dive into the gun debate by treating guns as a threat to public health much like smoking or drunk driving. here to talk u with us joey jackson and james shallek. having worked as a nightside reporter in d.c. in local tv news when this was the murder capital of the year i can think of emergency room physicians i met through the years who would love to treat this as a public health problem. joey, do you agree? >> i absolutely do. the statistic ticks are come pegging when you talk about gun fatalities and motor vehicle fatalities. you have just as many gun related injuries as you do motor vehicle deaths that s problematic and something for doctors to get involved. this is not something new to them. the american college of physicians addressed the issue 15 years ago when they said

this is an issue of epidemic proportions and we have too much gun violence and gun death. i'm not advocating that they tell people what to do. whether people want to own guns is a choice we have to make as citizens and being respectful of the second amendment. i don't think there is anything wrong with entering into the issue about how to use guns safely and soundly. >> this is an outrageous invasion of the relationship between a doctor and their patient. this isn't healthcare. this is a political debate, not a healthcare debate. there is a lot of things that people can get hurt doing. scuba diving. deep frying turkeys. speeding on a highway. where is it going to end. doctors don't belong in the political debate. they should care for their patients mental and physical health. this is a political debate. there is no room for the physician in the debate. >> how would it change the debate if it were qualified as

a public health problem rather? i can imagine the public service ads that we would see on buses and in subway stations and on television all the time but what else would it do to change the dynamics of the debate? >> it opens the door. when does a doctor stop debating what can be harmful to you? scuba divinglier "scuba is harmelful if you don't know how to do it right or speeding on a highway. doctors should care for someone's health. not their political views. and the gun debate belongs in congress and state legislatures, not in the examining room. >> would it allow guns to be regulated in the same way that the fda regulates drugs for example? >> we are not talking about people and famous music sections having a political view point upon whether it is

appropriate to use guns. is not about frying turkeys or scuba diving. this is about the safe use of something that doctors agree, right, because their own organization said was a public health epidem montreal expos. we arepidemic. we are talking about the safe use of firearms such that those firearms could be used in a way that does not endanger the public health. that is the issue. and i think it is about time that doctors stepped up, exercised this responsibility so that we can safe. >> but at the same time, you could make the same case for doctors failing to identify the public health problem of mental ill eps oness on the streets. >> doctors, what do they know about guns? you are putting them in a debate on how to use guns and when it is safe or not. they don't belong in the instruction of gun use. they belong in treating disease and ailments. why put them in the debate and the instruction and advice

about gun use. that is not for doctors. >> because people are dying. it certainly serves a public health emergency and they have to speak on the issues. if people die from smoking or drinking we expect them to take a position. if people are dying from gun use like they are from motor vehicle sten accidents we expet doctors to use their leadership and their weight to prevent that in the future. >> no doubt many doctors are gun owners and. >> owning a gun is legal and if it is legal then people can get licensed and trained and use them. why should a doctor intercede in that conduct that a human being is doing legally? >> smoking is legal. alcohol use is legal, right? and certainly taking certain food substances are legal, too. but if endanger you then a doctor needs to address the

issue. that is all we are talking about here. think it is about high time that they do what they want to do which is to ask for legislation in the area as they did 15 years guy. right now provides an ideal opportunity for that to happen and it should happen and needs to happen and if it saves just one life it certainly is something that is very important. >> joey, we are going to leave it at that. this debate no doubt will continue perhapses in a more heated fashion as it is exercised on capitol hill. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> pleasure, doug. teatake care, james. >> it took months for congress to pass any sort of aid bill for the victims of superstorm sandy. does it do enough for those that lost their homes? we will talk to two congressmec from the area hit very hard when we come back. yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria.

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the 2008 obama campaign is being fined big bucks for not reporting donations. the federal election commission says the campaign failed to properly are report some donations received in the last 20 days of the campaign. the $375,000 fine is one of the largest ever for a presidential campaign. a teenager is in jail accused of planning to commit hate crimes at an alabama high school. a teacher found the 17-year-old's journal. detailed violent terrorist attacks and named several students and a teacher. when police searched the boy's

home they found what they believe are home made grenades. the tan tie social has become -- the antisocial has become social. kobe bryant officially sent h his first tweet. in just over a day bryant has accumulated more than 500,000 followers. don't forget you can follow our show on twitter @ anhqdc. it is a story we first told you about here on america's news headquarters. virginia's attorne attorney gel taking on the environmental protection agency. a federal judge handed him a victory in his case against the eps. the judge ruled the epa overstepped bounds by attempting to regulate storm water runoff as a pollutant. critics say the agency was making a power and land grab. the attorney general said it

was ridiculous for the agency to call water itself a pollutant. >> the clean water act is supposed to keep water clean and so treating it like it is a pollutant is particularly asinien under the clean water act and the judge agreed. >> the ruling could save virginia taxpayers more than $300 million, superstorm sandy is costing new york city millions of dollars in overtime alone. that new report from the city's budget office says new york has spent $154 million in overtime. most of that money went to police and san tax increase workers. overall sandy cost city agency is about $4.5 billion. >> we are now past two months with people of new york and the people in new orleans and that area they were hurt but nothing in comparison to what happened to the people in new england. >> president barack obama has signed into law an almost

$10 billion bill to pay flood insurance claims from superstorm sandy but the house has yet to act on a larger more comprehensive sandy aid package and lawmakers from areas h hit hard by the hurricane say they need more help and they need it right now. joining us to talk about it democratic congressman from new york charlie rangel and chris smith. welcome to you both. what did i say? i didn't say rangel? >> you did. >> congressman rangel, $9.7 billion not what you wanted to see but you hope more is coming obviously. >> i think 9.7. and we expect to get another $13 billion and then after that 33 billion. so is in total of 60 billion. the first down payment is on flood insurance which is all national. i never thought anything would bring republicans and democrats

together but this catastrophe did in the meanest possible way and i hope we can pick up you the pieces and move on. >> and congressman smith, are you onboard with that? in favor with the way speaker boehner broke the sandy supplemental in many parts? >> obviously we felt forcibly we wanted to have the vote a few days ago on the entire $60 billion package. we did not get the package from the administration. it took six weeks december 7 before we even got the recommendations. but delay is denial for those people who are suffering and i would argue that we need to get this money as quickly as possible. january 15, the house will vote as you know on the entire package and then hopefully the senate will act very he quickly and the people who have been affected by sandy will get get at least some relief to make a difference in their lives. >> congressman rangel i want to

address the issue of pork in the bell which is taken up on january 15. a lot of republicans say it is larded up with all kinds of pork going for disasters in area unaffected by superstorm sandy,. >> the replacement and repair of fisheries in alaska and new england fisheries and some in the gulf of mexico. there is money to help fund the construction of a tunnel for amtrak in the northeast corridor. what does that have to do with superstorm sandy and in this era of belt tightening how can we justify that? >> if there is any senator that put anything in this bill that shouldn't be there, the scrutiny in which the house of representatives and the senate overlooking it was already stripped. if there s any vestages of it left you can bet your life we want to know who put it in there and we get it out. the alaskan thing has a lot to do with us losing in the east coast a whole lot of fisheries. i don't know anything remaining

in that bill as we talk and chris can help us out here but none of us wanted this to be used as a vehicle and whatever specks of wrong doing it may be it had no reason in the world to put this bill over for a new congress to have to start all over. if there is anything wrong with that bill every member of congress should step up and put it out and that is not the reasons why we didn't get a chance to vote on the bill. that is not the reason why it has been split in two pieces and that is not the reason why 84 new members of congress for the first time will have to deal with this serious national crisis. >> i'm surprised to hear that coming from a democrat. chris smith, do you agree with that? >> well, let me just say this. the senators couldn't perhaps help themselves. senator reid allowed extraneous spending to be placed on an emergency piece of legislation. thankfully the house has taken action and i want to credit our

republican leadership hall rogers in particular who assure and the appropriators in particular that we are talking about emergency and recovery only. and all of these extraneous moneys that were put on and projected have been ex-cised from the legislation. delay is deney "ym." my argument is if you want to begin the recovery part, yes, we need to pay the overtime and all of that as quickly as possible. if you want to begin a recovery that is robust it has to happen now. you can't begin to contract and do that part of the equation recovery, you know, the building that is need, the infrastructure and roads and bridges and engineering and construction under the army corps als unless you have the y in hand so that you can contract and that s what has been missing. hopefully by january 15 a couple of days later by the senate. down to the white house and signature and we are on our way. but again, i find the delays to

be uncon is scionable. >> we will find out how this thing progresses again on january 15. a second installment of the sandy supple hemental. it may be one of the the toughest and least enviable jobs of the country, being a member of the united states congress. we will talk to a newly sworn in representative about the challenges ahead for the 113th congress. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day afr day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] e pill eachmorning. 24 hours. zero heartbur

there may be a hockey season this year after all. nhl and players association announced a tentative agreement early this morning ending a nearly four month long lockout. nhl players and own oars must vote on the new deal. espn is reporting that the season could start on january 15 with 50 games or on january 19 with 48 games. a lot of americans on very happy to say goodbye to the 112th congress. one of the most unpopular and unproductive in modern h history. will the 11t 113th be any 84 freshmen were sworn in last week but they face toxic bipartisanship and tough battles ahead. a republican from the newly rehe drawn 6th district of florida joins us now. thanks very much and congratulations on your victory and your soon to be appearance

in washington. are you looking forward to it? >> yeah. well, thank you, thank you for having me. you know, it is interesting when i ran, congress wasn't very popular and then once i got elected it seems like congress has only gotten less popular so you are are going into a very he unpopular institution. the silver lining for me is we have a low bar to clear to start doing some good things. >> some of the statistics i think are not entire early accurate in the sense that people are elected based upon their individual district and they are obviously well liked. unfortunately, it is not the entire nation that elects each and every one of you. let's talk about what your priorities are. >> well, you know, i ran really wanting to advocate reform, conservativism. during the campaign president obama obviously focused on the wealthy and he thought that they weren't paying their fair share.

obviously governor romney got hit with the 47% comment and i was uncomfortable with the debate because it seemed like we were assuming that we have a fixed class society where there wasn't going be a dynamic economy where people couldn't really do great things. that is not the america i believe in. i believe in having the right to rise and that you are not son signed to mid link circumstances and you could do big things. >> , in order for that to happen we have to get our fiscal house in order and reform things like the tax code and bureaucracies that are inhibiting economic growth and opportunity. >> the next big issue congress is looking at is raising the debt ceiling. the president says he does not want a fight over that but we heard mitch mcconnell on the first day of the 113th congress say the president needs to show up for this and that spending is our priority at this point so it looks like the division continues. >> it does. i mean i think the fiscal cliff teal that we saw president obama said he wanted a balanced approach. to me it was way weighted in

favor of tax increases and very little in terms of real spending cuts so if he is going to be true to his word about wanting a balanced approach the debt ceiling is a perfect example. i'm interested in spending cuts just in the aggregate but i also think we need reform the spending process whether that is through a balanced budget amendment or some other mechanism so we are not having these perpetual crises. >> the senate has not passed a budget in three years. how will you convey that message to majority leader harry reid. >> it is tough to convey messages to him from what i have seen. i embraced reform such as no budget no pay which says if congress doesn't pass a budget they shouldn't get paid until they do and that has bipartisan support. i think if we can put pressure on congress to do its job let the chips fall where they may. i may not get everything i want and you may not get everything you want but that is not a reason to be derelict in your

responsibility. we need to get back to normal order and normal budgeting. >> thank you very much for your time. see you back up here in washington next week and congratulations again on your election. >> thank you for having me. no nomination yet but rawmakers already lining up for and against former senator chuck hagel as the new secretary of defense. he is considered the frontrunner for the job. an official announcement could come as soon as tomorrow. both democrats and republicans have questioned hagel's record and signaled a bruising confirmation battle could lie ahead. >> the job of the secretary of defense is to be a serious credible strength and deterrent and unfortunately i think weakness in a secretary of defense invites conflict because bullies don't respect weakness. >> the senate's top republican mitch mcconnell is taking a wait and see approach on the possible nomination. inauguration day just around the corner here in the nation's capital. find out what role cell phone

towers are going to play on this very big day.

in the new memoir, general stanley mckristol accepts the blame for the rolling stone article that ended his service if afghanistan. >> doug this is the first time he has publicly commented on the controversy. only about a page and a half of his memoir responds to this scandal. in it mcchrystal takes responsibility for his staff. extra cell phone towers being

in talled on the national mall specifically for inauguration weekend. washington is expected to be flooded with visitors and their smart phones and they are hoping to avoid the wireless meltdown that happened four years ago. the inaugural committee wants to make sure everyone can call, tweet and post. >> and a new york city musician seduces the thief who stole his iphone. he left his phone in a cab on new year's eve and found out someone was using a dating app to send e-mails on it. he created a fake profile and convinced the thief to meet him. the thief decided to hand over is the phone when greeted him with 20 bucks and a hammer. those stories and more, doug on fox news .com. back to you. >> 20 bucks is the carrot and the hammer is the stick, i think, peter. >> one way to put it, yep. now, that lawmakers backed away from the fiscal cliff small business owners are trying to figure out how to

approach the year ahead and many find that they are now facing much higher tax bills. senior business correspondent brenda buttner is here now to break it down for us. hi, brenda. >> hey, doug, that is right. we may not have fallen off the fiscal cliff but small business owners could be in quite a ditch nevertheless. there was no change in the corporate tax rate which stands at 35%. the majority of business owners pay taxes on their personal income tax rates. for many those who earn more than 400 k filing as individuals or $450,000 as households and this s not unusual for a small business that rate just jumped almost 5 percentage points but small business faces another hit because their customers will have less money in their wallets. payroll taxes have been 4.2% for the past two years. now, that rises 2 percentage points. for example a worker making $50,000 a year will send a

thousand dollars more to uncle sam and have that much less to spend. it is not like the changes come at a good time for small business. forget about the fiscal cliff for a moment. small businesses face another challenge that could bring a lot of pain. they have just one year, 12 months to get ready for new rules under the healthcare overhaul. employers with 50 or more workers have to offer health insurance by next year or pay a penalty. and many unanswered questions about the law are independent contractors part of the 50 worker minimum. a "wall street journal" poll of small business ceos said that less than 15% of owners understand the law and 4 out of 10 said the healthcare law will hurt hiring in the future. bottom line for small business own oars bottom lines, many financial planners say the d.c. deal could be a raw deal for them. doug, back to you. >> indeed. they don't understand it and most haven't read it, of course, and neither have most of congress. >> that's exactly right. >> brenda, thank you very much. >> thank you.

four legged victims of superstorm sandy were plucked from the wreckage and give and second chance at life. it led to a meat that animal rescuer calls love at first sight. the heart warming story when we come back.

virginia residents and animal rescuer jessica calls her first meeting with lassie love at first sight.

she was part of an animal rescue team sent to save animals after superstorm sandy. after seven weeks of rehab, lassie was ready to go home with her brand new family. all dressed out decked out i should say in a pink outfit there. that is all for me here in washington. "fox news sunday" is coming up next. john roberts s filling in for chris wallace today and talks with newly sworn in senator ted cruz. you don't want to miss the heated escaped change. could be a preview of debaits to come in the new congress. clashing over everything from spending to gun control. i'm doug mcelway in for shannon bream. captioned by closed captioning services, inc. >> i'm john roberts in for chris wallace. if you think the fight over the fiscal cliff was tough, stay tuned for a bruising round two. from automatic spending cuts to

raising the debt ceiling to paying for uncle sam to stay open, the battle lines are drawn. how will that fight play out? we'll ask two key congress american. democrat chris van hollen and republican jim jordan. >> a new republican voice challenges the grand old party to find a different vision. a new man in town with a message that champions opportunity. will the party establishment listen? we'll get a fresh perspective from senator ted cruz. from spending to immigration to the new gun control debate will the new congress be able to get past toxic party sanship to get things done for voters? we will ask our sunday panel to read the political tea leaves all right now on "fox news sunday." and hello again from fox news in washington. after side stepping the fiscal cliff the country now faces an economic triple threat of even greater scale. at stake, automatic spending cuts, government funding and

the full faith and credit of the united states. with bruises still fresh from the last dustup, early jabs already flying. joining me to talk about this are two influencial members of congress. welcome to you both. we were talking before the program started mitch mcconnell the senate minority leader said on another sunday program the revenue piece is done, no more taxes. the president wants more tabs and wants to close loopholes and element deductions. how is this fight going to unfold as we go forward? >> if mitch mcconnell is going to draw that line in the sand it will be a recipe for more gridlock. we have to take a balanced approach to long-term deficit reduction meaning additional cuts and remember last year the president signed into law more than $1.5 trillion in cuts. 100% cuts. as a result of avoiding the fiscal cliff we raised about $730 billion in revenue from very high income as we go forward we need to adopt the same frame work as